John Henry, a self-professed 49-year-old baseball fanatic, purchased six Rockies tickets Thursday morning at Coors Field. Because tickets for this afternoon’s home opener against the Phillies were sold out more than a month ago, he settled for seats to Saturday night’s game.

But with the economy in tatters, baseball is bracing for hard times, the Rockies included. Major-league teams are rolling out creative marketing ideas to fill seats. The Rockies, while not nearly as creative as some other teams, recognize the task in front of them. While today’s game is a sellout, the job of filling seats gets much tougher starting Saturday.

Fans such as Henry have walked away. Henry was a Rockies’ season-ticket holder for 12 years but gave up his seats when he discovered he couldn’t sell them to games he wasn’t attending.

“Nobody was buying them. I couldn’t even give them away,” he said.

Rockies owner Dick Monfort said he knows it’ll be a challenge to come close to the 2.65 million fans the team drew a year ago.

“I think every sports team thinks, ‘Well, if we can play good, it will buffer all of this. If we win, it will trump the economy.’ But I don’t think anything will trump this right now.”

On the bright side, he said, “Baseball is a value sport, which helps us a lot.”

Throughout the major leagues, “value” has become the new buzzword.

“We know people are cutting back,” said Arizona Diamondbacks president/CEO Derrick Hall. “You have to increase the benefits of coming to the ballpark. You just can’t wait to see what happens; you have to get the fans here and take care of them.”

The Rockies’ attendance last year was the team’s best since 2002. Many seats were sold in the aftermath of the Rockies making the World Series in 2007. But a 74-win season last year and the trade of slugger Matt Holliday after the season turned off many fans.

A season-ticket base of about 18,000 a year ago has dropped. “It’s taken a hit,” Monfort acknowledged, without saying how big of one.

Searching for a silver lining, Monfort said the Rockies are hoping for “trade-down business” — that is, families choosing to stay closer to home for summer vacation.

“Maybe somebody from Sterling or Grand Junction, rather than going on a trip to Disneyland or something, maybe they come to Denver and take in a ballgame,” he said.

Commissioner Bud Selig has pushed teams to come up with more promotions to get fans out.

“We are stepping up our efforts to make the game more affordable and to demonstrate to its fans how important they are to us,” Selig said this spring.

The Diamondbacks have been the trend- setters, in large part because of the sour economy in Phoenix. Concerned about losing lower- and middle-income fans, the D-backs made a bunch of changes. Some upper-deck tickets at Chase Field cost as little as $5. In the Diamondbacks’ pro shops, fans can buy caps for $7 and T-shirts for $8 — about a third of what some teams charge. The Diamondbacks replaced a party pavilion beyond left field with a free playground that includes a Wiffle ball field and a batting cage. And down the left-field line is a section known as the “All-You-Can-Eat Seats.” For $30-$35, fans can gorge on unlimited hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, chips, water and soft drinks.

While the Rockies haven’t made such dramatic overtures, they have a number of standard promotions, including the cheap Rockpile seats in deep center field, priced at $4 for adults and $1 for children and seniors.

The Rockies’ popular Coca Cola value pack — four tickets, four hot dogs, four Cokes, a Lot B parking permit and a game program, all for $49 — has been expanded to include all games in April.

“We want to make coming to games affordable,” said Greg Feasel, Rockies vice president of business operations. “But most of all, we want to provide value. We don’t want to just sell cold hot dogs for cheap. We want an experience that brings people back.”

Value menus

Faced with an economic crunch, many major-league teams have developed an array of creative plans to lure fans to the ballpark:

Baltimore Orioles Kids Night: Children 10 and under get in free when accompanied by an adult for Thursday night games.

Minnesota Twins Market Mondays: Tickets will be sold for the Metrodome’s Home Run Porch (normally $21) based on the Dow Jones Industrial Average at the close of business each Friday. For instance, if the Dow closes the week in the 7,000s, the ticket price for a game the next Monday would be $7.

Toronto Blue Jays Cheap Seats: Upper- deck seats are offered as part of a $95 season pass. Fans pay just $1.17 a game.

Arizona D-Backs All-You-Can-Eat Seats: In a section down the left-field line at Chase Field, fans pay $30-$35 for a game ticket and an unlimited supply of hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, chips, water and soft drinks.

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